The poems in this book, first published in 1890, present not only a poet searching for a voice, but also a female poet searching for a voice while breaking down rules of both versification and gender-determined source of expression. They went straight to the heart of the male-dominated poetry of the time and effectively threatened its existence.

Seth Whidden is Assistant Professor of French at the University of Missouri-Columbia. His research focuses on nineteenth-century French poetry and contemporary French civilisation. He has published articles and translations on Rimbaud, Verlaine, Krysinska and French hip-hop culture.